For Free will
by N0TxAxREBEL
Summary: The shinobi are meant to be tools for their village. They are expected to obey every command despite the immorality of the situation. What if a young sunan Genin to be decides to hide her abilities? Hekima is a layback person who wants to control her future as a shinobi. Will she be able to pull this facade off for long? This is a slow burn romance. Gaaraxoc.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: If you guys find any grammar mistake please message me. This story would be updated every other week. Please leave a review (god this makes me sound desperate) T_T

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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"Hekima-nee, hurry up I need to use the bathroom!" Megumi knocked with her small fist.

Hekima finished drying off and placing on her regular clothes for the academy. A pair of beige Capri pants with a short sleeve boxy shirt the color of burnt orange. She open the wooden door, only to have her younger sister Megumi run in while pushing her out. Living in a household with 4 other sister and two bathrooms, one being an ensuite for her parents room, made morning routines hectic and rushed. It was a worse situation when Asa was still in the academy. She was notorious for taking long showers and taking at least 30 minutes afterwards to choose and wear her clothes. Hekima and Megumi were forced to wake up early because Asa refused to hurry up or get up early herself. For the most part Hekima usually came late to her classes and had come to terms with it since she valued her sleep more than school. Of course the teachers had brought it up to her parents but since her dad is the head of the most powerful clan in Sunagakure, they let it slide. Her parents did confront her about this but that's a story for another day.

Namika and rai are the youngest of the family and fraternal twins. They just started the Academy this year and since they're first years, classes start later for them. So far they both loved being in the academy and would come home to tell their family about the new things they've learned which everybody already knew. It's safe to say that they both are go getters especially because they look up to Megumi, the middle child. Megumi is the Queen of being studious and obnoxious. Hekima only hoped that the twin won't catch the Obnoxious trait. Hekima, the protagonist of this story, is the second oldest and people would describe her as being chill, the type that goes with the flow. Greatly contrasting against the eldest of the Sisters, Asa. She's all about clan pride and doing your best. Hekima knew that her parents favorite is their eldest, Asa, and she is fine with that.

Throughout the years Hekima had come to the conclusion that her family is full of fake people. Although it is not intentional that they act this way. Being one of the strongest clan made them this way. They had a need to look and act perfect or society would butcher their reputation. Both of her parents were strict and quiet. They went with what they were taught and not what they're hearts tell them. It became so clear to her when it was her cousin Kimiko's wedding just 5 years ago.

Flashback

 _KImiko turned 18 just that july. She is one of the strongest ninja of her generation. Becoming a Jonin at the tender age of 16 she caught the eye of many people. The Kazekage made her an honorary ninja, sent her on some of the hardest missions. And ones that had questionable intentions. But that is not the only thing going on in her life. She has many suitors coming from rich or prestigious clans asking for her hand in marriage. But she already had someone in mind. Someone who remained a chunin whilst she became a jonin. A person who had civilian parents, came from no money, and is never serious. But she liked him anyway._

 _They went on a mission together and he confessed. They kissed. When she got home kimiko asked her mother if she had to marry one of the suitors._

" _Kimiko, you silly girl, we've already chosen whom you're going to marry" her mother informed her._

 _Kimiko argued with both her parents. Instead of reason they threatened her. "If you decide to marry someone other than the person we chose then we'll disown you. You won't be able to see your siblings nor your cousins. ever. " she loved her family more than anything. So she got married. Hekima remembered her cousin frowning throughout the whole ceremony. Her lively grey eyes were dullest grey that day. 3 months after being married Kimiko went on a mission where she is to kill the Demon child of the Kazekage. She lost._

End of flashback

How did Hekima know about this? Kimiko gave Hekima her diary just before she got married. In it she Explain why she chose to give Hekima her journal. Kimiko had two older brothers who didn't agree with her claim. She would've given it to Asa but Asa is too hard headed to understand or change her mind. And she feared Asa would've burned it or rat her out. So it went to Hekima, the perspective one, as Kimiko put in the journal.

At first the whole situation did not make sense to young Hekima. Ninja are suppose to protect the people. They're supposed to get strong and listen to their superior. So she put the journal away and continued to eagerly go to the academy. She wasn't a smart kid at the time and her grades were average at best. Until she turned 8 and she finally started to understand what her sensei's were going on about. Her mom had dropped the spoon she was cooking with when hekima showed the woman her report card that year.

She revisited the journal once again, Wanting to remember her cousin. She finally started to understand the words written on yellowed pages. Came to a realization that she is being raised to be a puppet for her family and village. Hekima wants to protect her people but her free will her morals is not something she wants to sacrifice. So her grades went back to average, that way she'll be able blend in as a shinobi. Any lower and they might consider kicking her out. Now an average genin to be, Hekima is considered a disappointment for not over achieving.

Hekima ate her breakfast and confidently walked away from the kitchen despite the disappointed glances her parents sometimes gave her. She slipped on her black ninja sandals and walked to the academy alone.

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Uploaded: April 2, 2018


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: As promised here's chapter 2. This chapter is dedicated to Shannon999 ! read and review. Please notify me of any errors.

Disclaimer (incase it was not clear enough in chapter 1): I do not own Naruto.

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"Ano, Hekima-San you're early today" Hiroto observed as he sat down next her.

Hiroto is a timid smart kid who for some reason always sits next to Hekima. At one point she did ask him why he always sat next to her. "it's because the seat next to you is always empty" she gave him a pointed look and then urged him to take a closer look. Low and behold at least 4 seats were empty, Hiroto's face got very red. Hekima decided to not bother anymore and continued her nap. Other than Hiroto no one else bothered to talk to her. They were all busy with controlling their emotions and becoming the best ninja's. Already making their way to Adulthood at no older than 9.

Devoid yourself of all emotions.

Hekima remembered when she used to practice that as a kid. Slowly forcing herself to become a robot. The only time she would go back to kid mode was when Kimiko would visit and play with her. Memories of a teenage Kimiko playing ninja with her and telling her mission stories came up every now and then.

"Hey, you ok Hekima? Hello knock knock. Sppst the Kazekage is here…" Hiroto nudged the female he would label as his friend.

Blinking her light green eyes open she stared at the place where all the noise is coming from. She blinked several times at Hiroto waiting for reason why had decided to wake her up. He motioned his head to the front of their classroom. She sat up straight just as the 4th Kazekage finished talking to their Sensei. His cold brown eyes turned to the crowd of 11-year-olds. When Hekima looked at him, all she saw is a dead man inside. She's heard stories of his greatness but understood that most of these great moments happened before she was even born. Now they are in need of change. But she's a smart girl. Speaking these thought out loud is suicide to her career as a mediocre kinouchi.

"Young ninja's it is your duties to make our village great. It is important for you all to become strong and tactful. For the weak are weeded out by the strong…"

Hekima, ignored the ridiculous speech. She thought about the points 4th Kazekage was making and how they were flawed in her opinion. To start off not everyone is strong but that does not make them any less important. Genin, chunin, jonin, and Anbu. They all are necessary to help the village maintain a certain order and still help support the village from those positions. Hard work should not be discarded just because it does not meets the high expectations of their leader. This is discouraging for those that aren't born geniuses.

He only intendeds to make himself look better. Not at all concerned for the village's well being. Otherwise his speech would have started off as 'do you you guys love this village? Show me how you love this village by beings it protector…'. Something along those lines. Not ' make this village great'. Stupid. This is all very useless.

After the Kazekage finally left, their sensei, Akira, started a lesson about strategy. Despite her sleepy state, Hekima paid close attention to the lesson. Taking notes for her to study later on that day, maybe even add to it if she felt like doing more research. Akira-sensei taught the class of 11-year olds simple strategies while in one-on-one battle. Preparing them for a lesson on war strategies for the next day and a quiz the day after that.

 _Hekima's house_

Tap, Tap, sweep, whoosh

Hovered over a scroll and notebook, Hekima scribbled Sunagakure strategies during the great third Shinobi War. She Mapped out their positions below her outline of the strategy to get a better understanding of how it looked. She wrote every possible flaw she could think of and compared it to the analysis provided by the scroll. _At least now I could take a nap during class tomorrow, sensei tend to read straight from the text anyway._

 _Knock, knock_

"Hekima-nii, get out of bed already! Mom has been calling you down for so long" Megumi yelled with annoyance dripping in her voice.

Hekima looked at the closed wooden door with a sigh.

"Hai!"

She closed her notebook with the pencil still inside. Slipping out of her room she joined her family for a not so quiet dinner. Asa had yet to return from her mission. Usually she'll be back by night. Their mom would always make sure to leave food aside for her oldest to eat when she returned. The twins chattered to each other while shoving veggies into their tiny mouths. Her father interrogated Megumi about her studies and training. She expertly answered them and ask him about the personal train he would be giving her in the future. Usually this training is reserved for the year the ninja in training is to graduate.

" Hekima should be getting this training before you" Her Mom pointed out.

"Oh, but can't I learn with her?" Megumi asked eagerly.

"It's meant to be one-on-one training so that the trainee gets a full understanding of the clan techniques" her Dad states with an authoritative tone.

He finished off a bowl of white rice before turning to his second eldest, Hekima. She could feel his grey eyes stare at her. She continued to finish the Sukiyaki her mom prepared, ignoring her dad in the process.

"That's right, you should be practicing with Hekima" Her mom said to her dad.

Her eyes flashed at her dad's stern face. He looked annoyed at the very thought of having to waste his time on teaching her

"It's time that you start your training, isn't it Hekima? Be up before 6am tomorrow. Your dad should have that time slot free. Right? " Her mom said sternly.

"Hai" he grunted.

"I'll be sure to be up" She answered smoothly.

Putting her dishes in the sink, Hekima walked back to her room. She brushed her teeth and changed into a pale blue yukata her father got when he went to the Land of rice. She let her light brown hair out of it's messy bun. The curly brown strands spilled over the silk pillowcase in messy heaps. She fell asleep with her right arm throw across her forehead and mouth opened for insects.

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Seriously read and review :D


	3. clan training ?

Author's Note: Sorry for posting so late, I had assignments due for the last few weeks. Chapter 4 should be up later today or tomorrow morning. Please leave a me if had have any mistakes and if some sentences need fixing.

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 **6:04**

Hekima waited in the training grounds of her clan estate. Her Dad, the man that lectures his kids from being just a minute late to dinner, had yet to show. _He's belittling me_ she thought annoyed. Yawning into her hand Hekima peered at the rising sun from her spot on top of the estate. She'd been up since 5am and lost a profound amount of sleep because of that. _Be up before 6am he says. Whelp i've been awake since 5 and school starts in an hour and I would like to be there early so I can take a nap._

 **6:13**

Step, step, stomp

Hekima turned to see her dad, still in his sleeping yukata. His grey eyes boredly looked at her form on the roof.

"You're awake, my apologies, I expected you to be sleeping still" he bluntly told.

"And I expected to see you waiting, I guess we're both disappointed" She replied haughtily.

Jumping off the roof Hekima landed soundlessly on the sand covered ground. She walked passed her shocked dad.

"Where are you going? We have some training to do"

Hekima eyed his clothing. _He's still in his sleep wear, I get the hint._ She scuffed and turned around.

"You obviously don't believe in me. I'll be using the Clan Scrolls to study. That way I could make better use of my time" She stated confidently.

He didn't bother to stop her.

Hekima had no trouble getting a scroll on basic elemental techniques from the clan library. However, she is on a tight schedule that morning so the scroll would have to wait. With the scroll tucked away in her bag she languidly walked to the academy. Her shoes sunk slightly into the sandy streets. _We must've had a standstome if the streets are this soft._ No one was in the classroom when she arrived. She studied the scroll until footsteps filled the classroom and tucked it away so she could take a short nap before Akira sensei arrives.

The lesson began as soon as Akira sensei entered the classroom 10 minutes later. He continued to teach the lesson on strategies and success rates of each one. Being experienced in his field as a teacher, Akira sensei brought board games to give a hands on approach to strategies. Hekima and Hiroto waited a turn that never came, class had ended with arguing twelve year olds and all the boards pieces on the floor. As punishment they were assigned a quiz for the next class meeting.

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 _Home_

Again she sat in the presence of a scroll about elemental jutsu's her clan specialized in. She fell asleep after barely reading a sentence.

Hekima awoke to the sound of fighting. She shifted in her bed and used her hands to cover her ears. But sound still managed to seep through. Finally she decided to see where the noise is coming from. Looking out her window what she saw is both surprised and unsurprising. Two figures faced each other, one significantly smaller than the other. The larger figure stood in a strong defensive stance while the other held a confident yet flawed offensive position, Megumi. Megumi attacked only to be thrown away in two seconds. Green eyes clashed with gray eyes. Hekima bluntly looked back into the eyes of her father. She showed no feelings. But she did feel hurt.

 **6:06am**

 _He showed up on time for her at least_

Turning to the half opened scroll on her wooden desk. Hekima closed it and saw her clan emblem on it. A purple square surrounding a swirl with a line running vertically through the middle. She had half the mind to throw it away. Instead, she placed it to the side and opened her notes from the strategy lessons. The quiz will be happening today but she could care less for getting a 100, a 70 is enough to make her content, learning strategy is more of a personal gain.

After going over her notes twice Hekima decides to head to the Academy. She ate her breakfast alone and stalked off to the Academy. _If being the best is all anybody cares about in my family then I am no longer family, but hopefully I could change that._ With that thought in mind she happily walked into her classroom.

The quiz was rather easy in her opinion, but she left a few of the questions blank to maintain her 75 average.

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 _Home the next day_

"You're going to the Chunin Exam. But it's too soon Asa, you just became a Genin" The mother of 5 yelled frantically.

"Well my sensei believes my team is ready, the Kazekage approved of it himself" Asa reasoned with her mom.

Hekima listen at the top of the stairs. Leaning her head against the clay bars. Water dripped down her face from her shower, she heard her mom frantic voice as she stepped out of the bathroom. After realizing that her mom was not in harm's way she silently tiptoed to the stairs to eavesdrop.

"What's this I hear about the Chunin Exam?" The man of the house walked in. Interrupting his wife and offspring.

His wife crossed her tanned arms. "Asa and her team are going to the Chunin Exams"

"The coming Chunin Exam?" His voice boomed. His face remain indifferent. " Kazekage-sama didn't mention this to me. I'm going to go sp-"

"No father I am old enough. Please don't got to the kazekage" Asa pleaded

"Not this one Asa *sigh* you know the demon child right" It is a rhetorical question. Everybody knew of the demon child. Meant to be the village savior but instead a defect out to kill people. An Offspring of their very own village leader. Of the siblings, Asa is the only one to have Seen him multiple times. They are the same age after all. "He's in this exam, therefore you will not be going"

When her dad mentioned the Demon child, Asa shut up and obeyed his wishes. She knew more than anyone that being in the same exam as the Demon child is truly unfortunate.

Later that day their father went to the Kazekage's office to take his daughter out of harm's way. Being head of one of the most powerful clans helped as well. After a short talk the village leader decided to exempt Asa's team from attending the Chunin exams.

Happy with the news he came home to dinner. Asa smile after he announced that her team will not be going. Albeit a bit saddened that she won't be able to advance in her ranks. 'But it's better than dying at the hands of the demon child' she kept telling herself. Hekima herself was happen to hear the news and kept a silent smile since she wasn't supposed to know about Asa going anyways. And happy to see her parents show some concern for their children.


	4. an act

Author's Note: Soooooo it's been a while. About that, I got into a bit of a writing funk and couldn't write or edit chapters. but y'all shouldn't worry too much, I have 12 chapters already written. I was stuck on chapter 12 for like 2 months and I finally did it! its been written. I'm going to try to stick to schedule this time so every other Monday there should be an update. If i haven't updated just pm me and hopefully i'll get right to it. So read and review and please pm me if you spot a mistake.

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Chapter 4

Hekima narrowed her eyes at the piece of paper in her hands. 85%. She counted up the points to make sure her sensei added them up right. However she came to the same amount 4 times. Then she reviewed each question, that's when she found not only one but two mistakes her Sensei may have made or perhaps she herself had misunderstood. _I can't come home with a good grade like this. My parents might actually expect me to better from now on. I need to make sure they don't see this._ A presence, most likely Hiroto, looked over her shoulder.

"Wow, y-you got a better grade than me" He soft voice whispered.

"Really? What did you get?" Hekima questioned.

""71%, mom's going to be upset when she sees this" he answered nervously.

"Don't say that! I'll fix it" She stated confidently.

"What do you m-, wait you are not changing the grade on my paper" He cried while clutching the quiz to his chest.

She rolled her gray eyes and he began to lecture her about tricking your parents.

"No not that, I think Sensei made a mistake. I'll bring it up to him when lunch begins" She enlightened.

"Oh, o-okay, but wait how do yo-" He got cut off before he could finish his question. Much to Hekima's pleasure. She hated when people asked too many questions.

"Quiet down everyone. We're way behind on schedule. Take out your Survival Textbook and turned to the native poisons section" The sense droned.

Hekima did as he said and tilted her head into one hand while he listed off the different types of poisons that could be found in their dessert. She dozed off at one point. Considering that fact that the children of sunagakure are taught what to avoid at least half the poisons he's listed already. Head head slowly drifted down onto her folded arms.

"Hekima, H-hey Hekima, it's time for lunch" Hiroto nudged her right arm.

She slowly picked her head up and glared at the shy boy. Hiroto know her well enough to understand that she's not annoyed with him. It's that fact that she was woken up that annoys her. She looked up to see most of the class empty while her sensei took out lunch to eat at his desk.

" I'm up, I'll meet you outside" She grumbled.

He grabbed his green bento box and followed the rest of the class outside. Hekima pulled her quiz paper from under the textbook and beelined towards her Sensei. He looked at notes while eating white rice with Bamboo chopsticks.

"Takeo sensei, I have a question about the quiz" The young sensei looked up at her after placing his chopsticks down.

"Go on" He pressed.

"You see here question 8 and 11, the answer should be A for both question, " She pointed to the questions. " I realized this after comparing Hiroto's answers to mine"

"Hmm, but the answers you put are marked as correct" he grumbled.

Biting the inside of her cheek she thought of a quick lie/excuse, " Well you see, I noticed it was wrong after Hiroto and I looked over our answers, and he made a few good points".

Takeo sensei seem to accept the answer as he continued to conjure up a reason why he is right. " Well you see here Sunagakure used Counterforce to attack Amegakure and for the other question Sunagakure did not come to the aid of the Konohagakure during The Second Great Shinobi War".

"Actually Sunagakure used Guerrilla tactics. Any people of importance that were successfully attacked and exterminated during these events was pure luck and very little in number. As for Question 11, Suna did come to Konohagakure's aid in the Battle of Iwa-Kono, a rather short but significant battle during The Second Great Shinobi War for it represents Suna's Ties with konoha" Hekima rambled her mouth before realizing her extensive knowledge of the right answers can blow her cover of being an average shinobi. And an average person can lead an average life with their own choices to make.

"I see, you've made your point well. I'll give the points to those that got the questions correct and allow those that got the answer wrong but got a check from me to keep their points. So this won't hurt your grade at all. Thanks for bringing this up with me" He said while hold my quiz paper out.

With some fast thinking Hekima showed her gratitude to her sensei. She couldn't go and ask her sensei to lower her grade, a normal student wouldn't do that. Despite the fact that it's something she wanted to happen. However one good grade wouldn't bring up her average she could just aim to fail the next test with a 60%, that'll even out the average. With that thought Hekima grabbed her bento box and joined hiroto for lunch. Whilst her young sensei stared at her weirdly. _She's an odd one._ He thought.

 _One Month Later_

Hekima Wiped away the sweat slithering into her dark brown. She blew at her golden brown hair as it repeatedly got into her eyes. The desert sun beat down on her small form tanning her face and arms. The burning ball of fire laughed at her predicament as she practiced hand to hand combat. Unlike the regular hand-to-hand combat she had to move more fluidly like a river. She had to be smooth and flexible. Without a proper mentor it made learning the technique twice as harder to learn. She needed someone. She needs to know if her form is correct or if she's reading the scroll right. Without that help, Hekima is just going to end up with a completely different . A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STYLE! That's what she needs!

Reading the scroll again she thought not of how her clansmen do their form but how she could accomplish the same thing using a different technique. The first thing she practiced is defensive positions making sure she covered her vulnerable areas. At last it didn't work. She still needed some sort of guide. Again she wiped at the sweat dripping down her forehead.

Her heavy breathing loud loud in her own ears.

"Hekima?"

Turning her head she faced her older sister, Asa. Observing her now Hekima realized the height between her and Asa had grown. Standing at least 4 inches taller than Hekima. At a young age they would constantly be mistaken as twins. They only held slight differences, Asa's hair is more golden than brown. Her eyes are dark shade of gray while Hekima's are bright green like their fathers. Her lips were also wider and more plump than Asa.

Asa eyed her sister. Having never really seen her training. But the sweat and tanned skin gave away telltale signs of training under the sun. Asa's eyes became gentle at the state her younger sister is in.

She cared for her younger sister but being the oldest of 5 siblings put her in a harsh position. One where she had to get ready to fill in her dad's shoes and come up to her parents expectations. Because of that she couldn't understand Hekima. Asa is the type to go above and beyond while Hekima could only be explained as lazy. Now that she's see Hekima putting effort into her training, she wants to help.

"Why don't you sit down in the shade and rest for a while, you don't want to exhaust your body" Asa offered.

Knowing that she was right Hekima nodded her head, grabbed the scroll and sat by a structure that provided shade. She planned on taking a short nap until she noticed Asa hadn't left the training grounds. Asa opened both palms one protecting her heart the other her abdomen. She crouched down slightly and began to move fast both making bold strikes at an imaginary enemy. Hekima's gray eyes widened as she recognized the description of this stance from the scroll. However she imagined the outcome quiet differently. No so much bold strikes more fluid ones that allowed you to change directions in the last minute. Looking at her sister, Hekima saw something that didn't look anything similar to the dance-like movement she imagined. With this opportunity she took mental notes on Asa's techniques. Understanding fully that Asa is doing this for her, and she is grateful for that.


	5. the invasion

Author's Note: so here's the next chapter. Please pm me of there are any mistakes. Hope all of you guys enjoy this chapter. And lastly please read and review.

I'd also like to thank people for their follow and support. Although I'm not sure if I should list their usernames (?) also KateKat1992 thanks for the review. I only wish that my stories were more fast paced and that I wrote more.

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Waking up that morning Hekima a strange feeling. She heard shinobi whispering as she walked through the streets. Even the Civilians noticed the Shinobi's strange behavior. When she walked into the classroom her fellow classmates were clumped into groups. Those that knew what was going on and those, such as herself, that had no idea of what was going on. Searching the classroom for Hiroto's head of long dark locks, Hekima spotted him in the back with his head down. She strutted over to take her place next to him.

"First time seeing you taking a nap" She nudged.

His amber eyes shoot open at the sound of her voice. He sat up straight and rubbed the sleep away from his wide almond shaped eyes.

*yawn* "you're l-late" he stated almost questioningly.

She looked up at the clock hung up in front of the classroom. "I'm later than usual but I'm still on time for class. Do you happen to know what's going on?"

He his dark brows arched. "Your parents d-didn't tell you?".

"Tell me what?" She asked.

"That's odd most of the m-major clans have told their children a-about it. Although I found out only 2 days ago… Well you s-see Suna is launching an attack on Konoha...Today" He said grimly.

"WHAT?!" She yelled. Then looked around only to be relieved that no heard her little outburst. "But Suna can't do that, It's-It's not logical. Our forces are smaller than that of Konoha's."

"W-well the Sound village had allied with our v-village to help take down Konoha"He filled in.

"That Sound village? I've never heard of that village. Konohagakure has been our loyal ally for centuries why would the Kazekage do this" She ranted.

"I-I don't know either. I-I just hope the plan works. It's a really e-evil thing to attack you own ally but i-if they don't succeed then it's our country that would e-end up in rubbles" He spoke quick but Hekima caught every word. She looked at his amber eye, saw how dull they look today. Darkened eye bags sagged under their almond shape. And she understood his 'sleepy' state is stress and anxiety that build up over the nights.

 _The next day_

Takeo-sensei never showed up. An hour into waiting in the classroom a chunin came in and dismissed everyone. After exiting the building all the students realized that everyone got dismissed. By that time those that didn't know about the invasion found out from their friends. Most were excited. Knowing in their little hearts that Sunagakure would win. However Hekima's had a different perspective. The more realistic one. Which is why she spent the night tossing and turning.

 _2 days later_

Shinobi have been showing up left and right since early that morning. Some showed up injured, few had died and many came back disappointed. The worst part is, their leader had been betrayed. The Sound Village leader had murdered him. The scary part is no one knows when. How did it come to the point that no one was able to tell that an imposter had be acting as their leader?

Panic

Cries

That's what they've been taught not to do. Nothing but silence filled the village.

 _At Dinner_

Hekima ate with her family. She couldn't find herself to look up at her parent. Her father especially. He could've done something about it, as the head of a prestigious clan he could've stopped the invasion. It's obvious to Hekima now that he knew about it all along. That's the real reason why he kept Asa from going. Although Hekima is grateful her dad protected her sister at least. But to have a parent that lectures about having power yet not using that power for the greater good seems hypocritical. 'He must have known how idiotic of a move it was on Sunagakure's part to team up with an unknown ally and expect to have things go their way. How could people follow a leader that is practically taking them to death.'

She barely ate her dinner and went to bed. Not an ounce of sleep came to her. Her village is leaderless. Vulnerable. Weak. An attack from other villages is expected. She got out of bed around 5 am. Her head throb and her stomach hurt. So she went to the kitchen hoping that a pain reliever and some water would calm her nerves and headache. She walked with heavy footsteps and a blanket around her shoulders. It didn't come to mind that someone could wake up with the amount of noise she's making. The light turned on as she stood in front of the sink.

"Hekima, what are you doing?" Arata questioned the young teen.

The girl in question turned around with a half empty cup in her small hands. Arata Looked over her daughter's appearance. Taking in her messy brown hair, pale complexion, and her half opened eyes. She walked over to Hekima and placed her hand on her forehead. 'She feels hot' the young mom thought to herself. She crouched down to her daughter's level so she could look into her downturned eyes.

"Are you okay?" She worriedly asked.

"Who's going to protect us? Our village c-could be in danger any moment now" Hekima cried.

Arata Grabbed hold of her daughter, bringing her into the warmth of her body. "Our village is going through a hard time right now but your father would always be here to protect us. You haven't seen him at his full power yet. But I have, he'll protect all of us" she comforted her child. The girl fainted in her arms, most likely due to the fever. Wet tracks trailed down her small face from tears shed. Arata picked Hekima up with some trouble. Having not trained in the shinobi arts for years made her muscles as weak as a civilian women working in the library. "I'll protect all of you as well" she whispered.

Hekima heard this in her weakened state and fell asleep with that promise.

 _6 months later_

After the first week of the 4th Kazekage's death Hekima realized that everything is going to be okay. Because the Shinobi in her village are strong and hard headed. Not too long after the two countries rekindled their alliance. She went back to her normal sleeping schedule even taking naps during class again. Even when it came for Genin selection, she got as much sleep as possible to the point where Hiroto nudged her awake when Takeo-sensei called her name to be part of the group of student that have been chosen to become official full fledge Ninja's.

"Hekima Oshiro you will be moving on to the ranks of Genin" Takeo-Sensei stated officially. He handed her a Sunagakure headband and continued to call more names from the list.

Hiroto joined her not too long after. He smiled slightly while looking down at the headband in his hand, long stringy hair creating a curtain as he did so. Compared to Hekima, his reaction is more vibrant than the bored expression on her face. He couldn't wait to show his mom the headband that represents all his hard work. When the announcements were finally finished A group of 9 students watched as the other 12 kids left to be disappointments to their families.

The new genin sat back down as they wait for their sensei to announce the teams. Hekima already knew that her and Hiroto would not be on a team together. He may have better grades than her but when it comes to Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu, it's pretty much a tie between them. It disappoints Hekima but she knows they'll still be Acquaintances, friends even.

"I will now be announcing your teams. Team 1 Diachi, Koji, and Yoko. Team 2 Momo, Hiroto, and Mitsue. Team 3 Ichi, Isao, and Hekima. You will meet with your Sensei's in two days time inside this classroom. You are dismissed" Takeo-Sensei bowed and left the classroom.

Instead of leaving the 9 occupants inside the room decided now is a good time as any to get to know one another. Hekima languidly walked over male teammates. She recall them being rather eccentric during classes. However she would not let that bother her since they will be teammates from now on.

"Aww man, we got a lazy one" the one she believed to be Isao said not so quietly. He had dark brown hair in spikes, yellow eyes and freckles across a wide nose.

"She could hear you idiot, God Ichi learn to be more subtle" Well she got the name wrong. The obnoxiously loud one is Ichi and the slightly more sensible one is Isao. He had short blonde hair, tanned skin and dark brown eyes, like most Sunagakure residence. Isao turned and bowed to her.

"Hello Hekima-chan, My name is Isao. That fool over there is Ichi" He said with a smile on his face. But that doesn't fool her, she knows they're both equal amounts of annoying.

She played along and politely bowed to her teammates " Nice to meet you Ichi-san, Isao-san. I think it's best that we go home and celebrate with our families for today" in all honesty she just wanted to leave already and return to her nap.

" Ah that's true! We'll see each other again in two days anyway" Ichi all but ran out of the classroom while yelling something about a big dinner.

"It's nice to meet you Hekima-chan, see you in two days" He joined his running friend without turning around.

She walked out of the academy oddly excited to show the twins her headband.


	6. Party politics

Author's Note: I know I'm late but here it is! Thanks for the follows and favorites. as always please point out any mistakes. My editing skills are terrible :/ I going back to college next week but It shouldn't be too hard to upload during that time. I know this story is rather slow paced but bear with me. Hopefully this experience would help my writing skills improve. and one way you guys can help is by giving some constructive criticism.

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Chapter 6

The Oshiro family held a celebration for Hekima. An event that was almost as big as the one they had when Asa became a Genin _. It certainly is as annoying as Asa's party_ thought Hekima. She sipped quietly at her cup of Green tea with a slice of lemon. She couldn't help fidgeting in her traditional silk kimono. It left little room for her to breathe comfortably which made drinking her tea difficult. The attendees of her Genin party are mostly adults. Few had congratulated her, the rest ran/limped to talk to her father. Her little sisters were lucky enough to be excused an hour into the party. Asa had been sent on a mission with her team. Something Hekima looks forward to is being able to go away and do missions herself. _After all 90% of becoming a ninja comes from personal experience from being out in the field._

Hekima watched as the few persons who share her age clutter together. None of them were her classmates but she knew them by face from previous clan parties and what not. She wanted to approach them but already knew that the interactions would lead to sneaky questions and political gain. Her father head lectured both her and Asa about political advantages and disadvantage each clan had before every social event they attended. He warned them about befriending any of the children. Doubting him, Hekima approached one of the children of the clan. Not even 5 minutes into the conversation the boy started to pry about her family affairs. That was 2 years ago and she learned her lesson.

"Hekima, you may be dismissed. Prepare yourself for the team meeting tomorrow morning" Her father demanded.

Hekima got up with little struggle, smoothing out the wrinkles obtained from sitting on her Zabuton for most of the party. She bowed to everybody in the room and thanked them for their support. Glimpsing a smile of approval on her father's face as she glided out of the room. Only when she made it to her room did she let out a tired sigh. Not a minute later she pulled out accessories from Hair and wiped off the light makeup her mother painted. She tugged lightly at the loose end of her obi. _Knock knock._ Releasing the obi Hekima walked over to her wooden door. Revealing a smiling Rai holding a card with red and light blue scribbles all over the front.

" Me and Namika made this for you. She fell asleep but I decided to stay up until you left the party" Rai explained while holding out her card.

Hekima accepted the present. "Thank you Rai. I'll remember to thank Namika in the morning. How about I take you to bed."

"Ok Nee-san!" Rai said excitedly. She grabbed Hekima's hand in her tiny one and lead the way. She continued to chatter away about what she learned at the academy today.

Hekima helped the 6-year-old into bed. Tucking her in just like their mother would and kissing her on the forehead. The 6-year-old smiled and promised to go to sleep. Hekima walked away.

"Nee-chan?" the small voice whispered.

Hekima stopped at the doorway and turned to her little sister. " Yes rai"

"You look really pretty today" Rai gushed.

"Thank you, now go to sleep" Hekima replied. Closing the door quietly behind her, walked quietly to her room. Not wanting to get anyone's attention from the party still going on.

She exchanged her formal Kimono for her silk pajamas and slipped under her floral blanket. Sleep came easily and darkness clouded behind her eyelids. She felt like she was moving yet staying in place. The slight motion making her feel sick. The dream ending before any conflict could come of it.

Opening her eyes to yellows beams of sunlight coming through her uniquely shaped windows. Most of the village got stuck with portals for windows instead of large rectangular shaped windows. The house she lived in is fairly new, therefore has some new world features to it. Yet it still kept close to the clan compound, which she dreaded. _No need to riled up on the thought of see annoying relatives. I should start getting ready._

Swiping up her new training outfit, Hekima walked to the bathroom. Happy to see that it's empty, she locked the door behind her and hopped into a cool shower. She washed away the sweat accumulated from the dreadfully hot night. Keeping it short because she knew she'd be back for another shower after her team meeting. She put her clothes after drying off with fluffy purple towel then looked herself over in the mirror to see if anything is out of place. One would say her outfit is simple. She wore black ninja pant that stopped mid-calf and a sandy colored T-shirt. Her black weapons pouch rested on her left hip.

Arriving to the medium sized kitchen happy to see breakfast her mother already prepared, enjoying the shocking flavor of spices sprinkled across the fish. Slurped down the the rich broth of miso soup, taking more time necessary to indulge her meal. Already she could hear the footsteps of her fellow family members as they prepared for the day. Wanting to leave before anyone saw her she quickly slipped on her dark brown shoes and quietly shut the front door behind her.

With her hands stuffed in her pocket she walked lazily towards the Academy. She watched and the civilians had just started to open up shops and spoke in hushed tones. Still the main street she walked down could be compared to a ghost town. Once upon a time, as her teacher had mentioned, there used to be many more vendors from all across the nations. Selling exotic vegetations, spice, trinkets, and much more. Crowds formed early in the morning and disappeared as the sun reached its highest peak. It's a shame. Because of the disappearance of such business, suna's economy had depleted. It got even worse when the local daimyo seeked ninja business from the leaf village. Hekima only hoped the new Kazekage would make the Economy a priority instead of trying to attack other villages. _As long as no old fart is put in the seat as kazekage. Someone who's young and has new ideas for the future of this village._

Upon arriving at the Academy, she saw those from her Graduating class also enter the small building. Knowing every one of them by their name and face, yet not really friendly with them. Straightening out her shirt, Hekima entered the building and walked into her classroom. The Occupants cluttered together into their assigned groups. Her own team members sat right by the entrance making more noise than anyone in the room. She dropped down into the seat beside them. Head in her arms and uncaring of the world around her. Wanting to nap whilst waiting for her Sensei to come pick them up. Feeling a tap lightly on her shoulder opened one to see Hiroto's amber eyes stare back at her. He waved shyly and she straightened herself up.

"Hey Hiroto. Shouldn't you be with your teammates?" She asked.

"Yeah. b-but we're going to do the w-whole introductory thing with our s-sensei later anyway so I decided to c-come talk to you i-instead" He reasoned.

She smiled at him and appreciated his loyalty to her. _Perhaps I should consider him as a close friend._ " How did your Genin party go?" She started.

Being in a rather large clan himself, called for a celebration. Sadly it landed on the same day as Hekima's Genin party. Although she would have much rather attended Hiroto's. Then she would've had an enjoyable conversation instead of sitting in front of a crowd of old grouchy men and women scrutinizing her every move.

"It went w-well. My cousins came over. They e-even gave me gifts. It Would h-have been funner if you h-had come" He stated as a blush creeped up his cheeks.

Completely ignorant to his affection she answered lazily. "Hn, I wish I could've. At least you got to have fun at your party. All I did was sit down for almost 2 hours while my father entertained the guest"

"Look at t-the brightside. Y-you got a lot of p-presents didn't you" He beamed.

"Yeah I guess. Gee these Sensei's sure are taking their time. We've been here for nearly half an hour" She mumbled.

"I'm sure they'll be here s-soon Hekima-chan" He advised.

Hekima was interrupted by the door sliding open before she could make a remark. Ninja's in their Late 20's walked into the classroom. Each a different variety of the Suna population.


	7. Akiyama sensei

Author's Note: Well look at that! I'm on time. Read and review. Thanks to those who liked and follow this story. feedback would be great but I get that some of you are shy...even on the internet.

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Hekima briefly looked at the adult then opted to put her head down for another nap. She heard someone close by scuff. Turning heard head she came into eye contact with Isao then continued to ignored his attitude. _Let's just hope he's not stuck up. I could deal with annoying but not pretentious snob._ Her ears twitched as one of sensei's called their team. Her team is the third to be called out. Before she got up a voice called out.

"You. The one that's sleeping. I believe your name is Hekima and I just called you name" The male voice boomed. I got out of my seat slowly, annoyed and slightly embarrassed by the attention of the remaining Genin.

 _Impatient much_. She walked over to where Ichi and Isao stood. Next to the Bulky man that had called her out. His brown eyes Glared when she met them. _Looks like I'm already on his bad side. Nothing I can do now to fix it. Might as well glare back while I'm at it._ Her Sensei's eyes widened at her reaction. _Well we got ourselves a fighter_ He thought _._ His tanned lips rolled into a smirk.

"I like you" He roared and clapped his heavy hand on her back.

Hekima's small form wiggled and vibrated like jello from the impact.

"Let's go" the man shouted.

Isao followed right behind the meaty man with Ichi close by. Hekima took her time allowing the distance to grow without losing sight of her new team. Her sensei noticed and yelled at her to hurry up or he'll make her do 200 push-ups. She fastened her pace not wanting to do that ridiculous amount of push-ups, _What kind of psycho would willingly do that many push-ups._

Finally the little group showed up one of the smaller training grounds in the village. It was mostly barren save for a few of the large rocks and a pile of gray things on the far right. The Genin's sensei Gestured for them to sit on a long flat rock reaching 2 feet high. He studied their faces sternly and stopping when he reached Hekima's.

" For those of you that were sleeping my name is Akiyama Tachibana, you may call me Akiyama Sensei "

Hekima let out an irritated huff. _I was NOT sleeping._ She mentally defended.

The man continued his introduction, "My specialty is in strength and I plan on turning those scrawny forms of yours into something like" Instantly he pulled his shirt over his head "THIS".

Unlike her annoying teammates hekima looked away as a blush dusted her tanned cheeks. Having never seen a shirtless man before, this experience was no more than just awkward. When she looked over at her teammates a sweatdrop form immediately. Both teammates had stars in their eyes and excited expressions. _Surely they don't think they would actually look good like THAT._ A mental image of their heads copied and pasted onto bodies similar to their sensei left her shuddering. Finally turning her attention back to her still shirtless sensei. _I doubt this man likes to keep his shirt on, might as well get used to this image now as to not cause a distraction later on._ Her eyes traveled up and down her sensei's torso. She concluded that such amount of muscle mass is unnecessary and could possibly slow a person down. The best part of being lean is that you have a good amount of muscle yet still retain a good speed.

"we're all going to be this strong?" Ichi asked.

"Well if you guy stick to my diet plan and exercise regime you just may get close to being this strong" Their sensei stated while flexing.

"How is this suppose to be beneficial to our squad? If you're focusing on just the physical strength then how are we going to improve on ninjutsu and genjutsu?" Hekima pointed out.

 _At least this one is realistic and uses her noggin._ He smiled broadly and laughed.

"Well aren't you inquisitive! But you're right. You could use your time with me to be quite strong, muscle wise. But I plan on starting off with exercises to add some muscle, which would last for 6 months, and after that it you decide on whether you want to concentrate on taijutsu. I'm hoping to have seen most of your abilities during the next 6 months so we can have 1 on 1 session afterwards where I help you improve you jutsu or technique. I may look like this but my specialties lie in genjutsu " He explained.

Ichi waved his hand in the air. Moving it back and forth as if he wasn't the only one trying to get Akiyama sensei's attention.

"Yeah you with the yellow eyes" Akiyama-sensei stated.

"Will we be able to lift 200 pounds?" Ichi wondered.

"Well that all depends on you guys. Now, how about you all introduce yourselves. Maybe throw in something about yourself if you will. Starting with yellow eyes"

"my names Ichi Shimizu, I like to challenge people, my favorite food is anything with chicken in it and my best friend is Ichi here" Isao ended with a nuggie to Ichi's head.

Ichi batted Isao away and straighten himself out for his presentation. "I'm Isao Minami, Best friend of Ichi. I like to play the occasional prank and my favorite food is lamb curry over white rice." Smiling goofily at the end.

Suddenly everyone's eyes were on the only kunoichi of the team. She had lay the top half of her body on the smooth rock. Not even bothering to get up from the position she introduced herself.

"I'm Hekima Yomohiro and that's pretty much it" She sighed.

The males gave her a bewildered look. Expecting more than just her name. Suddenly Ichi's chuckle broke the silence.

"Forgot to mention that you're as lazy as the desert is barren"

"Well kids, I would like to start with some warm up stretches now" Their walked to the pile of grey things and pulled out what looked like medieval armour.

"And after you're all done. This is what you'll be wearing." he dropped metal armour in front of each of his student. Each causing a rather large cloud of sand dust to emerge upon contact with the ground.

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2 hours later

The young Genin sweat underneath the golden light of the setting sun. Light reflecting off the salty drops, shining with every curve of the face, neck and arms. Equally exhausted as they ran off their 23rd lap. It didn't help that their legs were already tired from the squats they had done earlier.

"Are we done" Ichi wheezed.

"This is your final lap. I don't want you guys to over do it. Th-"

"We've already overdone it!" Ichi blurted.

"Stop your whining. We'll be meeting here again tomorrow doing the same thing. So rest up and eat a lot of protein"

The genin threw their armour into pile on the corner of the training ground. Hekima left without so much of a goodbye to her team members. Isao and Ichi yelled a farewell to their sensei and raced out of the training field. Akiyama stared at the backs of his students smiling at the strange bunch. And hopeful for their future.


	8. Chakra

Author's Note: I know, it's been a while. Forgive me. At least there's a new chapter! I'm not sure if I will update tomorrow since it s a busy week for me. Expect chapter 9 out around next week I guess. Please tell me if you guys see any grammatical mistakes! and enjoy the chapter.

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For the past month Hekima's team had rigorous training regimes. Now being able to do 100 pushups and 54 laps around the training ground in their metal armour. Hekima pushed herself just as hard as her other teammates. Being a team of average skill meant being averaged together. When she came home from team practice she would study her clan scroll until dinner and head to bed afterwards. Every morning she got up before the sun, followed the physical techniques from the scroll. Jutsu's from the scroll had yet to work for her. Something with the amount of chakra seems to be wrong. At first she didn't want help. However, having no other choice Hekima approached her sensei after the 29th day of practice.

"Akiyama-sensei" she called out.

"Yes sleeping beauty" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. As she did every time her referred to her. Always with a nickname that in some way relates to sleeping.

"I need help with this jutsu I'm suppose to learn" she stated.

He eyebrow quirked up, "Sure, I could help you sleepy. Forgive me for prying but I thought your dad would be teaching you".

"He's busy" she proclaimed.

"Well ok, shoot away. Tell me what's your problem?" urged the bulky man.

Hekima got into the stance. Right hand trusted out with the heel of her palm, left hand at the waist in a diving position. Left leg bent and ahead of the stretched out right leg.

"This is the stance for the jutsu I'm attempting" She instructed.

Her hands met together in the middle creating the signs: Dog, Dragon, tiger. Then she dove her hands back into their position only to have nothing happen. Her hand had not released a ball of fire as it should have, even a ball of fire the size of a coin would have made her happy at this point. Blowing out a puff of air she turned to her sensei.

His meaty hands rubbed the stubble on his chin."hm, I think I see your problem Aurora" he stated.

"Well what is it? And you already used sleeping beauty" She asked impatiently.

"Have you taken the chakra nature test?" he said, ignoring her last statement.

 _Huh, of all things. How had I not thought of that?_ Hekima mentally scolded herself. _Although it's common for the head of the Yomohiro clan to pass on his chakra nature to his children. All of the Main family members had fire natures and being apart of that main family itself, I should also be a fire nature. Which is why I've been working on a fire jutsu. If it's not fire. Then what is my affinity? How is it possible to obtain a different nature from my family. Perhaps from my mother, although I haven't ever seen her use jutsu._ Hekima ran it over and over in her head. Only one possibility stood out to her. _Stop it! You haven't even learned if you're a different chakra nature._ Calming the storm in head, she turned to her instructor. He had already taken out the item that would determine her chakra nature.

It looked like any other piece of paper yet it felt almost alive. As if it's still a part of the tree it had been cut from. Hekima jumped as she felt a pulse while holding the paper between her thumb and pointer. Akiyama laughed as he saw her react.

"I had the same reaction when I held one" He laughed. "Now place the paper between your palms and pour in a little bit of your chakra".

She followed his instructions and felt the paper dampen. She showed Akiyama the result. His brow arched as he saw no visible difference in the paper.

"I don't seen anything kid" He stated with narrowed eyes.

"It's a little wet in the middle" Hekima pointed to the center of her paper.

Akiyama's face got closer, then he grabbed Hekima's arm and brought it closer to get a better look. She stood rigid in his hold as he scrunched his eyebrows.

"Are you sure that's not sweat?" He asked.

"Yes I'm sure" she defended.

"Try again and don't to be so cheap with the amount of chakra you put into that paper. You've got plenty of it to spare" He squatted in front of his smallest genin. He watched as she shut her eyes and push chakra through stiff arms. Drops of sweat formed by her eyebrows. She stopped and showed him her paper. This time it had become more damp.

Akiyama stared amazed at how little the outcome was compared to the amount of energy she seems to be putting into the chakra nature. _This is a real head scratcher. I can't think of a reasonable explanation as to why this is the outcome._ Akiyama glanced at Hekima. Taking in her tired appearance. The training from before had taken its toll and using her chakra up right now won't do her any good.

"Go home dream queen. We'll figure this out tomorrow" He patted her back. Having been used to that Hekima barely shifted.

She sigh and made her way home. Doing as she had done for the past month. Hekima entered her house formally greeted her parents, took a shower and had a quick dinner then headed to bed. Usually falling asleep while rereading her family scroll. Having read the scroll many times she could practically draw the diagrams herself and provide detailed description provided with each diagram. But there's hope that she could find that's she's doing something wrong. Instead it seems it's not her training, nor her form, it's her that's the problem.

Suddenly leaving the warmth of her bed she walked to a mirror. Each feature matched her sisters with slight variation. Light brown hair, caramel skin, oval faces with strong jaws, and gray eyes. _There's no way that I could be another man's child. My chakra nature is different for another reason._ She reassured herself once more and slipped under her blanket.

She awoke the next morning to a winding morning and cloudless sky. Little specks of sand pelted at her face as soon as she stepped outside. She gladly tugged at the scarf her attendant,Momo, had given her. _I have to remember to thank her when I get back_. She walked to the training grounds her team had claimed as theirs. Nearing the training grounds, she saw two figures. Both shadowy and obscure behind the shifting particles of sand. _Maybe Ichi and Isao had decided to show up earlier then the meeting time for some extra training._ As she got closer the figures became defined in shape and size. One of them obviously being Akiyama-sensei. His wide and broad figure is hard to mix with the slender shapes of other shinobi. The figure next to him had a leaner physique and stood around 5 inches taller than her sensei.

Standing in front of her sensei and his strange guest. The man had half of his tanned face covered by a cream cloth. His resting face seems unapproachable. She was so sure she had seen this man somewhere.

"Ah. Just the student I wanted you to meet. Baki-sama this here is Hekima. We'r trying to find out her chakra nature however the chakra paper seems to be having an odd reaction" Akiyama explained. Taking out a fresh sheet of paper Akiyama instructed Hekima to pour a _generous_ amount of her chakra into the paper.

She did just that. Leaving her tired and wheezing as she had put more chakra into the paper then she had in the previous day. Still, the paper remain mostly dry with a slightly damp midsection. She turned the paper to the strange man. His face remained unchanged save for the narrowing of his eyes.

"I could see what you were talking about Akiyama-san. Let's see this one more time, I think I have an idea of what's happening" Baki observed.

Hekima reset the paper between her palm. The visitor squatted and to get a better look at what's occurring in Hekima's hands. He took notice of how the paper got wet. _So her chakra nature is water. Such a rarity in our region._ Had he looked away after that observation he would have missed what happened next. The paper dried up slightly. _And a wind nature. This reaction means she has equal power over each. Uncommon but not impossible. She might turn out to be quite an interesting shinobi._

Turning to his friend Baki started " Her chakra nature is both water and wind" he waited for Akiyama and Hekima to process the information.

Hekima spoke the up first, "Which one am I to assume as my dominant nature?"

"Both" Baki answered.

"Hm, so that's why the paper look barely changed. As soon as the water nature wet the paper the wind would dry it up." Akiyama clarified.

"Is it possible to be dominant in two chakra natures?" Hekima questioned.

"It's a rare occurrence but possible" the cry of a hawk cause Baki to look up at the sky. "I should be going" with a curt nod he jumped off into the blowing wind.

Ichi and Isao appeared seconds later. Sweating and gasping from what must have been a race.

"Was that Baki-sama?" Ichi asked.

"Yep" Akiyama answered. He pass metal armour to each of his students.

"The demon child's sensei" Isao stated. He shrug on the chest plate in a swift movement.

"Yes he is Gaara-sama sensei" Akiyama clarified. He placed some weights around his ankles and arms.

Ichi lightly smack Isao's chest plate. "Oi, did ya hear. That monster is planning on being Kazekage. Ridiculous huh"

Isao's face scrunched up, "Him as Kazekage?! That beast will only try to hurt us."

Despite his neutral expression Akiyama was indeed listening to what the two Genin had to say. Part of him agreed with what they had to say. Sabaku no Gaara had done too much damage to this nation. However his close friend Baki testified that the young man had changed. Baki, a man of few words and even fewer compliments, had acknowledged that his demon of a student had changed for the better.

"What do you think Sensei?" Ichi wondered.

Even Hekima turned to see what he would say. She herself had no idea what to think. The thought of Gaara, the demon child, wanting to become a leader sounds ridiculous to her only because he never shows signs of caring for the village. All he did is lash out and kill people.

"Hm, I believe he might be to young and inexperience for a position like that. However, the position of kage does land on the most powerful shinobi in the village and it is no secret that Gaara-sama is one of the strongest" Akiyama stated as he still contemplated on Baki's words. He gestured for his student to start training.

Later that day a falcon had land near Akiyama sensei. He stopped mid push-up and walked over to the bird. With a quick check he found a piece of paper rolled up in the scroll holder attached to its leg he called the genin over.

"Well team, seems we're goin' on our first mission today" he announced.

Isao and Ichi hollered with excitement while Hekima, as always, remained indifferent.

To Amee (guest): Thank you so much for your review. You don't understand how loud I wanted to scream from the fact that some thought this story deserves more attention. I promised myself that I will continue this story until the end so lets hope that I stick that promise. Perhaps I don't get many followers because I'm inconsistent with my upload dates.

To KateKat1992 : Sorry for not replying quicker. Thank you for the review. And I hope you enjoy this story to the very end!


	9. First mission

Author's Note: Sorry guys going through a writer block! and I was not not able to write much after my midterms. As always I promise to have this story finished and not abandon it. I will be graduating this year so I'll probably be on hiatus until the summer. Perhaps I could squeeze out two more chapters before the semester starts. Feedback would be appreciated. And Happy New Year!

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"We're going on our first mission! I can't wait to show how powerful I've become" Ichi gloated.

"Tch, doubt your more powerful than me, lazy here maybe" Isao gestured to Hekima "but not me"

Hekima ignored her teammates and followed Akiyama as he walked to the center of the village where the Kazekage tower is located. She kept quiet and wondered what kind of mundane mission the team would be given. Based on the stories she's heard from her sister at the dinner table, the kind of mission that are usually assigned to genin deal with helping someone with cleaning, babysitting and helping the elderly. Things that made their training not worth it because any regular citizen can get those jobs done.

"Would you mind shutting up. We've arrived and I would like for our team to make a good impression" Hekima's head shot up at the sound of her sensei's voice, completely numb to the amount of chatter Isao and Ichi where having.

"Sorry sensei" they yelped.

They entered the a busy building. With shinobi in vest running around holding papers. Even the secretary fidgeted with her computer as she sat at her desk. Akiyama walked through the energetic bunch and took the stairs to the top floor. He walked calmly down the hallway while his genin gasped and wheezed their way up the last few steps. He patiently waited in front of elaborate double doors. Made from rich dark wood, something only people with money could afford, seeing how the village is tucked deep into the desert. Breaths caught and postures rigid, Akiyama knocked twice.

A heavy voice spoke "enter".

They walked into the office and crouched in front of a man in tan clothing, a common uniform of Suna councilman. A young man stood beside the councilman as the he shuffled through paperwork. Finally, the elderly man held up a sheet of paper.

*cough* "Akiyama-san your team has been assigned to track down a Deathstalker Scorpion. Carefully extract the poison from its stinger, we need three vials of this. The hospital staff are in need of the venom by tonight. And please refrain yourself from getting stung. That'll be all." He said.

The elderly already moved on to another matter as the team got up from their positions. Akiyama led them out quietly until the each of the young Genin piled out of the dome shaped building.

"I'm giving you guys an hour to retrieve your things for this mission. We'll be meeting at the main entrance of the village" Akiyama stated. His voice sounded bland and Authoritative.

Hekima, as well as her male teammates, took to the rooftops and jumped their way home. She listed off the weapons she'll need and their location within her room. Calmly opening the door to her home she strides to her room on the second floor of the very large house. She could her mom's footsteps around the first floor. An empty half-opened backpack sat at the bottom of her closet. She threw in an extra shirt, kunai knives, water and granola bars. Another two kunai knives and a dozen senbon went into her holster. Finally finished with her packing hekima slipped into her small backpack and attacked the holster to her left leg. Opening one of the draws to her nightstand she pulled out a very thick pair of gloves and shoved them into her pant pocket. It would be tortuous to wear such thick material in the heat of the desert, however the thickness of the cloth is convenient when snakes or scorpions are involved. _Good thing they require every ninja to have a pair_ , she thought.

Knowing not to leave without saying anything Hekima went in search for her mom. She followed the voices coming from the meeting room, Hekima walked over expecting her mom to be yelling at one of the maids. She stopped in front of the meeting room. A surprised expression crossed her face as she saw her mom yelling at her dad. Her parents get mad at each other like normal parents but not once have they yelling at one another. They're generally calm people with anger that is more silent and condescending.

"Kaa-san?" she squeaked.

"What are you doing home? Why aren't you at practice Hekima? Young lady you better not b-"

Cutting her moms accusation short Hekima clarified," I have a mission. I just needed to gather my things for it".

"Oh, well good luck on your mission" the older woman said. She turned back to her husband and continued to yell.

Wide-eyed, Hekima turned around and walked slowly to the door. Purposely doing so as to hear what had angered her mom.

"Don't say you can't do anything about it! We are one of the strongest clans in the village. And you're clan leader, so you have a say in this" The older women argued.

"Listen the Sunagakure council are against the idea themselves. Only one councilman supports Gaara becoming the next Kazekage. He's only a child and a monster, what is Baki-san thinking of supporting this" He attempted to reassure.

"I just don't want that monster as a le-"

Hekima shut the door behind her and pondered the conversation she had come across. First Isao and Ichi were talking about it now her parents. This is a more serious situation than she had first thought. Sure the demon of the desert had never done anything personal to hurt her but he's hurt many. Way too many. A leader has to have the trust of his people. If he became the next Kazekage it would cause friction amongst the citizen. Nothing good could come of his leadership.

Hekima arrived at the meeting spot without realizing. Akiyama and Ichi stood waiting. For once Ichi stood quietly, both Hekima and Akiyama were grateful for the silence. Isao came 5 minutes later he looked like a mess but no one said anything. Together the team jumped off into the desert.

For three hours the team jumped in unified speed until they came to the deepest part of the desert where no other form of life is present for miles.

"Everyone, put on your gloves" Akiyama commanded.

Hekima pulled hers out only to realize that only one is in her pocket. She almost freaked out until realizing that it's not the time to do so. _I'll just make do with one I guess,_ she reasoned while slipping the thick material over her left hand.

"Let's pair off, Ichi come with me. Isao and Hekima I trust that you guys can work together without getting stung by the deathstalker scorpion" Akiyama directed.

Hekima followed Isao as he headed in the opposite direction of their sensei and Ichi. They went into a system where she would pick up the rocks and Isao would look for the scorpion. Until hey finally found one under the forth rock and were currently draining the venom from his stinger. Hekima popped the cap on the vial of clear yellow venom and safely placed it in her backpack. She turned to see her teammate backing away from another deathstalker scorpion. He released the one held in his hand as the second one ran towards him. _Why the hell is he not taking out his kunai knife?_ Hekima thought and she grabbed the second vial from her backpack.

If she was quick and careful the venom could end up in their vial instead of Isao. She kneeled down her right hand ready to grab the scorpion. The deathstalker launched itself at Isao's knee. Hekima grabbed the creature mid air and place the vial over its stinger. Clear yellow liquid poured in. Hekima launched the scorpion over 20 ft after finishing the extraction. Popping the vials cap on Hekima turned to her teammate. Isao stood there wide-eyed. To his understanding the most laziest and unmotivated teammate ever had just saved him from being poisoned. Her quick movement and thinking is the opposite of what he had initially thought of her.

She placed the second vial next the the first one in her backpack. Without saying anything Hekima walked in the direction of Ichi's loud voice. _Is she stronger than I thought?_ Isao pondered. He head lifted to the sound of Hekima yawning into her hand. He Shook his head _Nah, it was probably a stroke of luck_. He reached his sloth like teammate in a few strides. The pair joined their other teammate and sensei they had also obtained a second vial of venom. Which means they had a total of four vials of deathstalker venom, which is more than enough for the mission. Akiyama was proud and surprised to hear that his two students were able to obtain two vials of venom without his assistance to booth.

They got back to the village just as the sun was setting. Akiyama gathered the vials of venom and dismissed his Genin team. He went off the the Kazekage tower to give a mission report and the venom.

Hekima got home showered and joined her family for dinner. Her mom asked about the mission.

"It went well" Hekima stated simply.

Knowing that Hekima didn't want to bother talking at the moment Arata turned the conversation to her younger daughters. Too tired to listen, Hekima finished her dinner and took off to her room. She just barely changed out of her Shinobi clothes. The girl barely survived a day without having a short nap while the sun is out. She slept like a rock on top of her covers.

* * *

The next day Hekima awoke to the pink line of the sun rising. Her house is filled with snores and soft breaths of her family. She took a cold shower, got dressed and stalked over to the kitchen. The last thing she wanted was to wake anybody up. She bit into a meat bun and drank water for breakfast while studying the clan scroll on water based techniques. Excited to get some result, she left half her meatbun on the table a walked to the center backyard.

This time Hekima used a different set of hand sign and moved her whole body in a fluid motion. Water came from nowhere and attacked the air in front of her, albeit a little weak but it was results. Again Hekima Did the same hand signs and this time took a deep breath and then made a motion with her arms. The result was disappointingly the same as her first attempt. She did this again and again until she unsure of whether the substance dripping down her body was sweat or water. She couldn't hold the jutsu for very long nor attack her invisible target.

"Wow, that's something"

Surprised Hekima turned to her older sister, who looked like she hasn't showered or slept in 3 days. Asa looked at Hekima with one of her rare smiles. She placed her dusty backpack on the floor and walked over to Hekima.

"How long have you trained to get to this point?" Asa asked.

"I just started" Hekima breathed.

Asa quirked her eyebrow up. "Oh?" she began. "But I thought you started training the clan jutsu a month ago?" She pondered.

"I did. Then I found out that my Chakra nature is not fire. It's a recent discovery" Hekima clarified. Looking back at her older sisters face Hekima was surprised to see Asa's unchanged expression. She had expected her sister to react the same way Hekima had when discovering it. "Odd isn't it?"

"To be a water type? Not at all. Most likely you obtained your chakra nature from our mom side. I remember her telling me that Uncle had a water chakra nature. Now that you have some of the basics down, I think it's the best time to explain our family's jutsu" Asa said.

Hekima sat down on the sandy ground as Asa got ready to enlighten her.

"As you know our Clan is known for specialized elemental techniques, but, that's not exactly it" Asa paused as she saw Hekima's eyebrows knit together.

"What do you mean? There's more to our jutsu?" Hekima questioned.

"That's exactly it" Asa started. "Our family jutsu means to understand the elements at a more intensive level. First there's conjuring the element and becoming familiar with the element, Then you are able to manipulate it and condense the element into a controlled shape. Usually that's the furthest anyone goes. Especially since at that stage you could mess with the manipulation and come up with dozens of jutsu's. That last stage is the most difficult. Only uncle and Grandfather were able to successfully accomplish this. I haven't gotten to fully study it but the abridgment is that you're suppose use your element to control the human body. For an example air controls breath, or fire controlling heat and so on."

Turning the explanation over in her head Hekima tried to understand it.

"Try not to think too hard on it, just stick to the basics for now" Asa waved and left Hekima to her thoughts.


	10. ceremony

Author's Note: Sooooo it's been a while. Going through a writers and artist block at the moment. Please tell me if you guys notice any mistakes. I'll try to upload on Monday in 2 weeks. Hopefully the writers block would go away by then. Also if anyone knows how to cure a writers blocks please contact me I could use the help.

* * *

Ichi whined once more as he sat on the hardened ground. His other two teammates couldn't blame him. Isao was just seconds away from joining in. The mission they had just come from involved chasing after a rogue nin that had stolen a priceless Buddhist relic. They thought it was easy enough until the rogue nin turned out to be an ex-elite jounin with 2 chunin as his goonies. Ichi eerily stopped his whining, causing Hekima and Isao to turn to him. Ichi held a finger to his tilted head.

"Ano, what happened to sensei?"

Both of them sweatdropped at Ichi's question. " He went to file the report and announced it before he left five minutes ago. Should we take you to the hospital? Maybe that hit on the head was much harsher than we thought." Isao said concerned.

Hekima walked on as Isao tried convincing Ichi to go to the hospital. Her being there would be no help anyway. Ichi and Isao still keep her at arm's length, not that she's been trying to get on their good side anyway. She knew they still thought of her as weaker/lesser; however that may just be the misogynist attitude that they have been raised with. So she didn't take it personally, and could care less about what they think.

A warm breeze cupped her tanned face and played with her curly dark strands. She looked ahead as she walked and barely paid any mind to the vendors as she walked down the main road. She slipped her backpack off one shoulder as she approached her house. Her dads call kept her from marching right up the stairs and taking a cold shower.

"Hai" she responded.

"Go shower and get ready" He ordered.

"Huh" she stammered.

Apparently the conversation was over already because he started walking away. Her mother saw her and grimaced. Although Hekima observed that the look was not meant for her. Her mother eyes looked glazed over and the smooth skin of her forehead wrinkled.

"Mom?" she questioned.

"Go shower, I laid out your Kimono on your bed. Call me when your done so I can do your hair.

"What's going on?" Hekima asked.

"I'll tell you later, go shower" her mother whispered.

To say that Hekima is worried about her mother was an understatement. The woman was always reserved and proper and held an emotionless mask. The only time she's seen that look on her mom's face was when one of them got sick. WIth one more look at her mom Hekima walked up the steps, dropped her backpack into her room and took a short shower. Worry and anxiety forced her to rush her shower time. Her skin tinted pink from scrubbing so hard and it took alot to turn her tanned shin into pink. Wrapping a towel around her head and body, she walked into her room. From the sound of it all of her other sister are already home.

The peach colored silk kimono sat softly against her skin. She wrapped the obi as best as she could and called for her mom. The woman glided into the room and took in her daughters image. Her smile small she approached her daughter.

"I knew peach would look good on you" She murmured as her hand grazed the kimono sleeve. " you need to learn how to do your Obi properly"

Her mom untied the Obi and masterfully tied it. The woman has five girls, of course she's a master at such a thing. The next 10 minutes were spent with her mom combing through her curly mess. She winced as her mom showed no mercy, especially when she coiled the brown frizz into an extremely tight bun.

"So…" Hekima started.

"Hm"

"Do you mind enlightening me on what's happening?" Hekima questioned.

The older woman had her hand delicately placed under Hekima's chin as she turned her face one way and another.

"They're announcing the new Kazekage" She stated.

"Oh" Hekima breathed.

She already knew not to ask who had been chosen as their new leader. Having an idea of who it might be. Hekima understood her mom mood. With a sign her mom left. Hekima finally got the chance to look into her mirror as her mom left to check on everybody else.

Her round face stuck out more now that her curly brown hair is out of the way. Most of her sisters' shared the same round shape, similar tanned skin and gray eyes. Hekima's eyes were more narrow compared to her sisters and was the only sister in the family that inherited their dads curly hair. There had been many times that she's been mistaken as Asa or Megumi. Although Namika would always tell Hekima that she's the prettiest. Hekima always denied that statement. To her, Asa would always be considered as the prettiest since she resembles their mom the most. And that woman is one of the most beautiful women in Sunagakure.

"Girls come downstairs"

* * *

Hekima stood with the rest of the important clans of the Sand Village. They all looked the same with expensive kimonos/Yukatas, posh appearance and grim looks. Although a handful of the younger generation held a look of uncertainty. Hekima peered at the second tallest building in the sand village. Made of compressed sand blending in with the terrain. There's no architectural significant other then that fact that it's the second tallest building in this village. With a crowd of villagers staring intensely at the young man on top.

He contrasted against the people that surrounded him. Their wrinkled faces, tall stature and dull coloring is the opposite of the young man's bright red hair, aquamarine eyes and pale skin. The few characteristics that the young man had in common was a stone hard look and authoritative atmosphere. This young man is to be their leader, someone who just barely turned 14. The dull colored people, who are supposed to be the advisors as the elders of the village, are allowing this to happen. Despite the grim and unhappy faces that looked up at them.

One of the elders spoke up and started the inauguration. Even with the help of a microphone his voice is muffled and low. The only sound coming through is the occasional cough coming from him.

"I can't hear a thing"

"Me neither"

"I want to go home "

"Me too, why are we even here?"

"Girls! Quite"

Hekima couldn't blame them. Everybodies mood is just terrible, today is extremely humid and no one can even hear the old man speak. _Surely one of the other elders could have done the inauguration speech._ She took a moment to look around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Hiroto but had no such luck. Her attention returned to the elder as he finished off the speech. Then _he_ spoke.

"I accept"

Two very simple words. So very loud and clear. Hekima couldn't help but let those words and his raspy voice repeat in her head. _Its official now._ At first Hekima didn't know what to think about Gaara no Sabaku becoming Kazekage but now that it's official. Now that it's real. She could only think of reasons of why Gaara-sama should not be Kazekage. _He's killed too many people. Who's to say he hasn't stopped killing. He's young and inexperienced. Heck he might turn out to be just like his dad. This is a mistake._ Hekima's mouth thinned as her eyes narrowed at the redhead. She heard her family's footsteps start to descend away. With one last look at the young leader she turned and followed her family home.


End file.
